Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Maple Leafs Wade Belak checks Sidney Crosby in the second period last night at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: Analysis: Penguins' front office needs major overhaul Penguins loyalists rally for casino-arena plan

TORONTO -- Satisfying? Hardly.

Successful? Not even close.

But for all that was bad about the Penguins' 5-3 loss to Toronto at the Air Canada Centre last night -- and there was a lot, especially during the first two periods -- at least it provided some nice season-ending symmetry.

The defeat dropped the Penguins' record to 22-46-14, guaranteeing they would finish with the same number of points, 58, they had in 2003-04.

Never mind that the coach isn't the same as two years ago. That a lot of the players have changed. That the payroll was significantly higher this season. The real bottom line -- points earned over an 82-game season -- didn't budge a bit, even though the Penguins moved up a spot in the overall standings, to 29th place.

"Obviously, the expectations were 10 times higher than the year before the lockout," defenseman Ryan Whitney said. "If not more."

Because they again failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs -- the Penguins haven't competed in those since 2001 -- the NHL draft lottery will again provide the most meaningful moment of their spring.

It will be conducted tomorrow and will determine whether the Penguins have the first, second or third choice in the June 24 entry draft. They have an 18.8 percent chance of getting the No. 1 pick.

The only bright spot for the Penguins last night was that center Sidney Crosby broke Mario Lemieux's franchise record for points by a rookie by scoring his 39th goal and adding an assist to finish with 102.

"I was trying to be him when I was 10 years old," Crosby said. "So now, with passing him, it's pretty special."

Crosby, who Monday night became the youngest player in NHL history to get 100, placed sixth in the league scoring race, behind Joe Thornton, Jaromir Jagr, fellow rookie Alexander Ovechkin, Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson.

	Penguins center Sidney Crosby, playing in his final game as a rookie, tries to break away from Maple Leafs defenseman Luke Richardson (22), center Alex Steen (10) and defenseman Alexei Ponikarovsky (23). Click photo for larger image.

Crosby moved into that rarefied company by virtue of an exceptional closing kick. He had two or more points in 10 of his final 13 games and rang up seven goals and 15 assists in the last 10.

Dale Hawerchuk, who had 103 points when he broke in with Winnipeg in 1981-82, is the only player to accumulate more points than Crosby when entering the league in the same year in which he was drafted.

"I gave it my best shot, tried to have the best rookie year I could," Crosby said.

There's nothing unusual about Crosby ending up on the score sheet.

Just as it's pretty predictable that Toronto center Mats Sundin will pad his personal stats any time he shares a slab of ice with the Penguins.

Which is precisely what he did last night, ringing up two goals and two assists to run his 46-game totals against the Penguins to 35 goals and 34 assists.

John Pohl gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 8:19 of the opening period by deflecting a Sundin shot over the glove of Penguins goalie Sebastien Caron.

Sundin made the score 2-0 during a four-on-four at 15:20 when he steered in a feed from Alexander Steen, then put Toronto up three when he tossed in a backhander from the right side of the crease at 3:46 of the second.

The Maple Leafs' onslaught continued with a power-play goal by Darcy Tucker at 7:16, and Jeremy Williams got his first NHL goal 57 seconds later.

Penguins coach Michel Therrien replaced Caron with Marc-Andre Fleury at that point and, coincidentally or otherwise, Crosby spoiled the shutout bid of former Penguins goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin by scoring on a backhand from along the goal line to the right of the net just 27 seconds after the switch.

The Penguins whittled away at Toronto's lead with two quick goals in the third, as Colby Armstrong converted a Crosby feed at 2:16 and Ryan Malone swatted in a Ryan Whitney rebound at 3:04, but they could get no closer.

Despite the loss, the Penguins were fairly pleased with their performance late in the season -- "We played a lot better the last 15 or 20 games, system-wise," defenseman Brooks Orpik said -- and some were overtly upbeat about next season.

"You can look at the positives and say we were building something at the end of the year," Whitney said. "With the core of guys here, you can see a future. I know they've been saying that around here for a while, but it's pretty obvious."